Wednesday, July 4

It's a Bit Complicated

I've got to hand it to Art Brut. I ate up their first record--Bang Bang Rock and Roll--like a plate of yams with extra syrup. The strength of that catchy, comical record placed it high on my personal top-ten list for 2005. But the untested durability of their whole shtick worried me that I had ranked them a little too high...*

No need to worry any longer. Art Brut recently released It's a Bit Complicated, their follow-up to BBRR. It's more of the same, and--like with the latest Dungen and Explosions In The Sky records--that's a good thing.

For a domestic tour, all they have right now are two U.S. festival dates--Bumbershoot and Monolith. Hopefully a nice club circuit is in store.

Photo by Rhiannan Sullivan of 'Sup Magazine._________*I realize I'm opening up a serious can of worms by asserting that longevity has anything to do with an artist's ranking on a year-in-review best-of list. Look for a more in-depth exploration of this topic in a future post.